[Blazrath]

Jack would chuckle slightly as he was poured a drink of JD. 'Alright, I'll bite.' He would say, his ladies still tuning up as he left his gear. He looked Weedy in the eyes with a slight grin and was about to the take the shot when he heard the others commenting about the Cap' showing up. Letting his fingers slip from the shot glass he would turn on the heel of his boots to face him and give a salute. "Sir." With that he would ease himself and listen to what the old elf had to say. 'Its never good when he is this serious.' His stomach was hard to keep from growling loudly with being near the pig and how hungry he was. He listened to the presentation and had the info brought up on his glasses so that he could read the info. Getting to the doc, he would send the images of her to the sentries, already programmed not to fire on the group or the hardware they are packing.

After the briefing, Jack didn't have any questions. He would go back for his shot, downing it quickly. It seemed like an easy enough job, but thats what they said about the fething cave. Eventually Jack would walk away, seeing if the damn pig was ready or if they were going to have to use some of their 15 for it to cook. He'd be bringing his standard kit with him for the blast area, meaning mil-spec armor that had radiation shielding and some firepower when things go south of the border by a lot.

[rednblack]

Gale clears his throat a little, "Not a question, Captain and I hate for this to sound like I’m covering my ass here but as you all know astral in the CZ is mostly fragged and especially around the crater itself. Just saying, I might actually be relegated to ‘Intelligence officer’ on this run. Let’s not plan around any mojo flying about, if available it will be a nice bonus is all."

"Gale," August says, "you're a hell of a soldier whether you're making 'em shit their pants with your mojo, or a rifle.  Ain't no relegating, and ain't no ass covering, you're no use to this team if that crater eats you whole.  You just don't let those Blackshield boys know you could drop them with one of steely-eyed glares a yours in a different locale."

She pipes up immediately. "Yes, Sir. How much intel do we have on Dr. Clay? Is she trustworthy? It wouldn't be the first time I've seen a green merc squad like BlackShield lured into an ambush, Sir."

"Is she trustworthy?  Hell, girl, for all we know some bug spirit is wearing her skin around right now like it's Vashon Island's finest, and the damned thing is just waiting to be brought back to base.  I trust the people in this room, and my girls back home, and. . ."  August lets out a sharp exhale before continuing.  "Anyway, whoever she is, she's got pull from up top, and 450,000¥ means she gets pulled out of the pit, but even that kind of scratch doesn't buy trust.  Something seems off about her, and that goes for everybody here, you trust your gut and don't wave it off."

"I'm thinkin 'bout hittin the ground light...with a little extra heavy tonight. I'll suit up with regular body armor and my usual smash 'n grab get up. If'n we're talkin bug shamans though, I'm bringin some extra hoopstomp. Ill add in the cannon. Any other suggestions? I can run a little lighter on gear and pack some extra boom, sir. I like extra boom."

"We are not engaging with any fraggin' bug shamans, Chuck.  I know you're all 'Mr. Confirmed Kills' over there, but we're not heading out for your trophy room.  You want to lug that thing around, that's on you, Staff Sergeant."

August nods thankfully at Chuck and takes the offered cigar.  He peels the cap off with his thumb, retrieves a coal from the BBQ pit with a pair of tongs, and puffs deeply until the foot is a solid glowing ember, at which point he lets out a rough cough.  "Damn, you ain't lying.  But real tobacco, it is.  I look forward to the smoke on the flipside.  Nothing like a cigar at dawn with a cup of coffee."  Drek, he thinks to himself.  Do I even have any coffee left?  Can't forget to put a call in.

After Weedy changes the music and approaches him, August notes her formality.  Girl's like family, but she never steps out 'til she gets the ok.

"Sir. Yes, Sir! Viper Three did not believe I could do so before his pig had finished cooking. Bets were made. Shirts were burned, Sir."

He maintains his rough tone, but let's his eyes twinkle a little as he says, "Hey, Weedy, have you ever been mistaken for a man?"

After her reply and handshake, August fixes a plate, eats in military time, and finds a corner of the hangar to place a call to his daughter's back home.  Both go to voicemail, so he sends a quick vid instead.  "Hey, girls, I bet you're off at some college raver -- do the kids still call them that?  They used to call them that for a bit back when. . . Anyway, I just wanted to say 'I love you,' and I hope your classes are going well, and if your food creds are getting low, let me know, and I'll slot some more out to you.  Yeah, so, this is dad.  Obviously.  Take care.  Call me, like tomorrow, or when you have some time.  Ok.  Bye."

[Poindexter]

"Is she trustworthy?  Hell, girl, for all we know some bug spirit is wearing her skin around right now like it's Vashon Island's finest, and the damned thing is just waiting to be brought back to base.  I trust the people in this room, and my girls back home, and. . ."  August lets out a sharp exhale before continuing.  "Anyway, whoever she is, she's got pull from up top, and 450,000¥ means she gets pulled out of the pit, but even that kind of scratch doesn't buy trust.  Something seems off about her, and that goes for everybody here, you trust your gut and don't wave it off."

"Yes, Sir. If it's all the same to you then, I'd feel better if Viper Three could find a little history on her before we left, Sir."

[Ravensoracle]

As August approached Wires snapped to attention only going to ease when appropriate. He listens to the briefing and is already calling up images and data from VI's databases and around the net. He has his Agent "Muse" follow up with her own searches just to be thorough. He knows that August said to rest for 15 but some things would take time and he could still relax while it happened.

>>> Load Muse
>>>Access Vulcan International Host - Access Code = "*************************"
>>>Search ....Chicago Downtown Cermak Crater Coordinates = .............
>>>Access Muse
>>>Send Command ---> Search Images Cermak Crater Coordinates = ................

"Sir. Yes, Sir! Viper Three did not believe I could do so before his pig had finished cooking. Bets were made. Shirts were burned, Sir."

He maintains his rough tone, but let's his eyes twinkle a little as he says, "Hey, Weedy, have you ever been mistaken for a man?"

"Only when no one can see her figure, Sir."

"Yes, Sir. If it's all the same to you Sir, I'd feel better if Viper Three could find a little history on her before we left, Sir."

"With your permission, Sir... I'm on it"

Wires waits for his intel search to finish and Q's up a search for the good Dr. All the while he is carving into the pig making sure everyone has a plate before he grabs one himself. He doesn't exactly wolf down the chow, he seems to enjoy it. But he makes a quick dash through it and finishes the same time as the others.

[Koshnek]

"We are not engaging with any fraggin' bug shamans, Chuck.  I know you're all 'Mr. Confirmed Kills' over there, but we're not heading out for your trophy room.  You want to lug that thing around, that's on you, Staff Sergeant."

Chuck paused and eyed August for a moment. "With all due respect, cap'n, the cannon's comin. We're goin to the crater." Chuck paused again to walk over and grab a slice of meat from Wires. He pointed at the pig. "The crater's hot. Not as hot as this here pig...My geiger's been pingin off this pig from all the way over yonder by my bunk.

Chuck sniffed the pig and half smiled, half grimaced before taking a bite. I wonder if Gale'd stick a finger up my hoop and shoot off a heal after this piggy escapes the pen. I might even let him. "Delicious. Anyhow, no tellin what kinda nasties we'll encounter there. Irregardless of that, we're goin lookin for a bug shammy." Chuck shook his head a little at that before giving the captain a hard stare. "Besides, cap'n, you know as well as I do that I'm no greenhorn with an itchy trigger finger. If you say it don't get blown up, it don't get blown up, sir. I'll also load the bird up with what explosives I got left, and we can figure out how much to bring on site en route." He then gave what would have otherwise been a completely professional salute to Captain August if not for the plate of pork in his hand.

A bright red outline began to slowly pulsate from the very fringes of Chuck's vision, and the timer Chuck set after August's debrief popped into sight. 10:00:00

"Permission to leave the party early, sir? I gotta get strapped into my trusty 4th leg. It ain't as big as the third leg mind you, but it gets the job done."

With permission, Chuck turned towards his bunk while waving at the rest of viper company. "I'll be in the bird 5 minutes early. Y'all know the drill, ladies. Ill say a few words 3 minutes before departure. Y'all're all gettin a prayer, so ya might as well be there. Might get ya a little extra consideration, I dont know." Chuck left it at that and walked off towards his bunk to begin checking his gear and suiting up.

When he finished, he picked up his pocket Bible and flipped to the back where the names had been written in. So many names. I'm not adding any names tonight. Everyone's coming home, damn You! Chuck took a deep breath, let it out and placed the pocket Bible in it's little pouch before heading to the Banshee.

[Poindexter]

As the luau rages on, Weedy's entrepreneurial mind starts working the way it always does. She gives the mental command to her commlink and sends off a message right quick. It's a standard message, one that she's sent a hundred times, and one that has made her a LOT of nuyen over the years.

>> Send Message
  >> Contact: Comm
    >> CC: Pigeon, Zhang, Brother Malik, Dookey
      >> Message: Hello everyone. It's that time again. What do you want for Christmas?

It's not a message that gets answered most of the time, but when it does, the nuyen flows like water.

[rednblack]

Having given dispensations to two of his soldiers, August kicks himself a little bit.  No way it takes Chuck thirty minutes to get his dress on.  Shame you gotta make this crew have a good time.  Damn workaholics.  He hopes there's a next time so he can get it right then.  No.  there will be a next time, and when it comes, Chuck is going to eat that fraggin' pig and like it.  On the other hand, no way around the matrix search.  Weedy was right; that needed to get done then, if it was going to get done.

At the fifteen minute mark, August makes his way to his barracks, calls in an order for coffee, "The real stuff, damnit," and assembles his load out.  With a solid fifteen to go until dust off, he considers picking up some STS systems for the BS mercs, but isn't sure of their viability.  Finally, he makes up his mind, collects the rest of his gear, and heads back to the hangar ready to roll.

[reyjinn]

"Gale," August says, "you're a hell of a soldier whether you're making 'em shit their pants with your mojo, or a rifle.  Ain't no relegating, and ain't no ass covering, you're no use to this team if that crater eats you whole.  You just don't let those Blackshield boys know you could drop them with one of steely-eyed glares a yours in a different locale."

"No worries August, I know my own worth."

Gale takes his time eating knowing that he has less gear to get ready than most of the others and that he’ll get all his ducks in a row before it’s time to go. He makes sure to stow both his foci rings in a secure pocket, knowing that the high background count near the crater will absolutely render them useless. God damned astral wasteland. Still, it’s better than running the shadows chummer, never forget that.
He gets to the banshee around the same time as the others, "We ready to get this show on the road?"

[Poindexter]

The Pig is amazing. The sauce, for all the shit talking and fear mongering is actually some incredible stuff. You don't get to be as old as Wires is without learning a few good recipes. It's the sort of sauce that you don't even really taste at first, you just think, "Whoa, this pork is kinda spicy." But then, a few minutes after you're done eating, you start sweating and giggling a little bit. Somehow, even the smell of Chucks cigars couldn't ruin the flavor of it all. When they're done eating, Chuck excuses himself early to strap in and the life kind of falls out of the party for Weedy. She stays, as ordered for the remaining 5 minutes, but her heart isn't in it anymore. She realizes, for the first time maybe, that Chuck is her friend and that she likes him. Shit. I got three friends, now. She lets herself have one last smile as she watches the good ole boy strapping on his custom gyro-harness for a moment.

Once the five minutes is up though, holy SHIT it's on! The mischief in her eye, the braggadocio in her voice, the swagger in her step; All gone, replaced by pure emotionless professionalism. Within 13 minutes, she's showered, put on clean clothes, checked and loaded up her weapons, donned her armor, and made her way to the rear entrance of the Banshee. It's been her job to make sure everyone got on the bird and everyone got off since day one. When she'd first gotten the job, August had let her know on NO uncertain terms, "Unless you're the ONLY one, you're the LAST one." She still remembered the look on his face when he'd said it. Like he hated saying it to her, but knew he couldn't bullshit her either. She'd respected him for not wearing kid gloves around her, the way a lot of men did.

While she stands at alert near the rear of the banshee, waiting for the team to mount up, she finally remembers what movie that line about being mistaken for a man came from. Fuckin Vasquez! I shoulda' made some kinda Aliens joke back at him. Well, too late now.

She notes the faces of her team as they board one at a time; Chuck's eager determination, Jack's "devil-may-care" vibe about the whole thing, and Gale's near palpable discomfort with going so close to the crater. She can never get a read on what August is thinking, and Wires is in the cockpit, so she never sees his face before take-off. Probably better that way. If ya don't know what kinda mood the pilot's in, you assume it's a safe one.

Once everyone is on board, she does a cursory check over everyone's safety equipment as per usual, then straps herself in between Chuck and Jack. After lighting up her various AROs and waiting until all the preliminary flight checks are completed, she checks in over the comm.

"Viper Five is ONline. Won't ya play our song for us there, Fly-boy?"

[Koshnek]

Chuck stood by in the banshee waiting for anybody to show up early. The time was neigh, though, and Chuck's never been the kind to burden anyone with unwanted ideology. The cap'n'll probably show, and I'll have a word for him when he does. He bowed his head. This is just You 'n me now. Bring us home safe tonight. Cap'n August, Weedy, Wires, Gale...Jack. They're good folk, and You know it. I don't got much else to say...I ain't the type. I'll think of somethin' pretty if the cap'n shows but that's it for me. You keep 'em safe, y'hear? "Amen."

Chuck pulled out his redline and double checked its charge before checking the battery satchel around his waist. They both read 100% capacity. Weedy took up point beside the Banshee as usual before anyone else showed up. Chuck finished poking through his medkit satchel and verifying its contents about the time Gale made his way to the bird. Guess somethin's on the Cap'ns mind. "FRAG. Blastin caps..blastin caps..where the frag are my blastin caps?!" Chuck quickly rummaged through his pouches and pockets looking for his detonators. "If I gotta head back to my bunk for...OH." He fingered through his chem pouch and counted each detonator. 2...4...5...6 "Huh. Got 'em with the feel goods. Never put 'em there before.

Chuck hooked his cannon into his gyro mount and tested the arm while he still had a moment. He aimed it at several awkward angles in addition to his normal range of motion before testing the storing mechanism. It operated smoothly as expected, so Chuck detached the cannon and stored it beside him for the flight. Confident everything was in order, Chuck took a seat and fiddled with his AA-16 while waiting for the rest of the team.

Better say somethin for the cap'n.. Chuck put his submic patch on and pulled out his comm.

>Record Subvocal Audio file
 >>Title: Pre-Game
  >>>"Cap'n, I told the Man upstairs I'd say a couple pretty words for ya. Made a damned liar outta myself. I ain't got no pretty words. That don't mean I forgot about ya though, sir. You usually show up, so I'm goin the extra mile tonight. Recording will resume in 15 seconds if ya find yourself in the mood.
...
...
...
Lord, we're headin into some nasty drek tonight. There ain't no guarantee we're gunna make it back. Never is. But we have faith in You, so we ask You to guide us through our missions tonight. We don't know this Doc or her guards, but no one deserves to end their days in the CZ, so we ask you to be with them as we seek them Lord. We also ask you to watch over Cap'n August, Weedy, Wires, Gale, Jack and myself tonight as we perform our duties. We ask all these things in your name, amen.

>Compose Message
 >>Captain August
  >>>Ya didn't catch me early tonight. I reckon you're preoccupied, so I took some initiative. Don't be late next time. I ain't got no time to be playin grab-ass.
>>Attach File: Pre-Game
>>>Send


Chuck relaxed and continued to fiddle with his AA-16 while waiting for the rest of the team to show up.

[Blazrath]

Jack would eat the pork without much of a fuss, that comes later when it comes out. He'd get on his comm, pulling up a contact of a blonde elf. Thinking about it for a moment, he'd hit message underneath the Profile.
>> Send Message
  >> Contact: Twister
    >> Message: Hey.. It's me. Going into the drek again, you know the drill. The account is up to 10% of what is needed, so it will still be a while if you don't hear from me. Love you.

He wouldn't care if anyone saw him write the message or saw it. The group knew enough of the tumultuous relationship that they weren't going to break up any time soon. Finishing up, he'd pack up his tools and break the girls down, thinking it be best to leave Simone behind for now. His fifteen minutes up, he go into his bunk and get his gear in order, strapping Kristine to the side of the back pack and putting all the gear he thought he'd need in the backpack itself, going to weigh him down for sure. He'd grab Matilda from her special place, getting the spare clips on the sling and on the side for other gear he may need. Each one had a color band of tape around them so that he knows in a pinch which is which. That ready, he'd get his mil-spec armor on, leaving his helmet for last. He'd walk over to the small mirror he had and looked deeply into the reflection.

'You have this. Don't worry, this ain't hell. You'll get out of the maw intact. The others will come back. You know it, I know it.'

He would grab his pack and weapons that weren't already strapped to his armor with the exception of his helmet where. He would walk to the Banshee, leaving only a couple of minutes left when his heavy footsteps would be heard on the bird. The gear not needed on him for the mission from the beginning, but maybe later would be put into storage on the Banshee in case its ever needed. Taking his seat next to Weedy, Viper 6 would put his backpack in front of him and helmet on top of the pack. "Well this will probably a rough job and may we ache about it in our old age, which the tuskers here will get to before most of us. Anyways, just so that you guys don't go down uncultured, here is a quote from Gilbert Keith Chesterson, a great author. 'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' I don't know about you guys sometimes, but I think I'm a true soldier. A couple of you guys might have that potential, but would rather not." He would say, probably getting a groan from everyone on board. He had a different quote to say before take off to try and make the fraggin mercs rub two brain cells to create some type of spark, but it doesn't seem to always work.

[Poindexter]

"Well this will probably a rough job and may we ache about it in our old age, which the tuskers here will get to before most of us. Anyways, just so that you guys don't go down uncultured, here is a quote from Gilbert Keith Chesterson, a great author. 'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' I don't know about you guys sometimes, but I think I'm a true soldier. A couple of you guys might have that potential, but would rather not."

"Sheeeeeeeeyit. We aint no soldiers. We's MERCS! We fight for what's about to be in our POCKETS!" she announces to the group as she reaches across the isle to slap hands with August. As she does, she gives the metal command to send her termite files off to the team

>> Send File
  >> Contact: Viper team
    >> File: Termites.Doc

[rednblack]

"Sheeeeeeeeyit. We aint no soldiers. We's MERCS! We fight for what's about to be in our POCKETS!" she announces to the group as she reaches across the isle to slap hands with August.

"It's do or die with Vulcan I." August says.  "Viper-5, is Viper Team present and accounted for?"

He immediately hears her shout in the affirmative before continuing.  Weedy's got some lungs on her, true dat.  He gives his team the frequency Wires provided him with and goes through the check-in procedure.  "Comm check-in: Viper-1 over." he barks, hearing Viper-2, Viper-3, Viper-4, Viper-5, and Viper-6 resound back to him.  Subvocal check-in: Viper-1 over," and the process repeats.  Then again for text. 

"Viper-3, we are cleared for lift-off.  At your ready."   

[Ravensoracle]

When the 15 minutes was up everyone could hear the Banshee already going through pre-flight in the hangar, Wires running the facility that the Banshee was parked in remotely while he quickly dressed. He was the first one on the bird skipping the others pre-game rituals while he himself ran through his own. He jumped into Betty. Mentally running his fingers over every surface. The t-bird rumbled when he fired up her engines. The power they provided feeling like an adrenaline rush in Wires own body. You ready ol' gal. Once more into the breach....

He sends a the flight plan out to his contact at the Air Traffic Control Station overseeing the greater Chicago area.

>>> From: Vulcan International, Helo-Echo-Seven-Seven
To: Chicago ATC; Care of Anna Gregovich
File Attach: Flightplan.doc


He watched as the others boarded through the sensors on the bird. Each stowing gear and taking their normal places. 
 

"Viper Five is ONline. Won't ya play our song for us there, Fly-boy?"

>>>"Ask and you shall receive." http://youtu.be/pc_F3PaYgl0

"Viper-3, we are cleared for lift-off.  At your ready."   

"Launch in 3...2...1...Off" The t-bird shook as the engines revved up to power, lifting her clear of the ground and slowly taxiing out of the hangar. Once clear the engine power increases and everyone's stomachs drop toward the seat as t-bird quickly gains altitude and speed.

While inflight, Wires sends a feed to all of the team with the info he found during his searches.

"Intel on the area and the Dr."

[reyjinn]

The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.

Sheeeeeeeeyit. We aint no soldiers. We's MERCS! We fight for what's about to be in our POCKETS!

"Come on chummers, both of you are as wrong as wrong can be. What we fight for are the people in this bird right here and we do it because we know that the sucker next to us will be doing the exact same thing. And failing someone who is putting his life on the line for you is simply unacceptable." Gale pauses for a moment before continuing, "Thankfully I can’t even imagine anyone in this crew disagreeing with that."

Gale settles back in his seat eminently content to put his life in the hands of these people, calling out when August goes through the preflight comm check routine, then tapping his foot in rhythm to the classic rock that Wires chose as Viper team’s take off music.